Baby Tira* is putting on a brave face, but at any moment, she might start protesting very loudly. What she can’t realize is that even though the big needle hurts, it might save her life.

Tira lives in Cambodia, where children get sick and die because they are not immunized against preventable childhood diseases. Thirty million children born every year in poor countries are still not getting the basic six immunizations for tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, pertussis and measles.

A huge worldwide campaign is underway to give all children a healthy start. The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) is a new global partnership between United Nations agencies, governments, private foundations and pharmaceutical companies. Its goal is to see that every child on earth is immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases.

GAVI partners include two United Nations agencies, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as national governments, the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Children’s Vaccine Program, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the pharmaceutical vaccine industry.

photo credit: UNICEF/Lemoyne
*Names of children have been changed to protect their identity.